Brazil cracks down on protesting truckers after violence

SAO PAULO, March 1 (Reuters) - Brazilian police arrested
protesters and sent in backup troops to control striking
truckers on Sunday after demonstrations turned violent and
slowed food deliveries in Latin America's largest economy.

Authorities in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul
detained at least eight people on Sunday and sent riot police to
some areas, reducing the number of blockades there from 25
Saturday night to three by Sunday afternoon, the local highway
police said. More police were arriving from other states.

Protesters in Rio Grande do Sul torched a vehicle full of
tires overnight, police said, after protester Cléber Adriano
Machado Ouriques was hit and killed by a truck that did not stop
at a blockade in the municipality of São Sepé.

Nationwide, there were 46 blockades on Saturday night
according to the most recent government report. The nearly
two-week-old movement has slowed grain deliveries, forced meat
processing plants to close and is starting to leave some grocery
stores with bare shelves.

Eighty percent of the roadblocks are now in the southern
states of Rio Grande do Sul, Parana and Santa Catarina,
according to a statement from the president's office late
Saturday night.

The federal government will increase police presence on
affected highways to enforce court orders to end the roadblocks,
the statement said. Last week police started handing out steep
fines to those blocking roads illegally.

Ivar Luiz Schmidt, one of the movement's leaders, urged
followers on Facebook to ignore rumors of an agreement with the
government and vowed to continue the strike. Protesters say the
government has not adequately addressed their concerns over
rising fuel and freight costs.

A spokesman for the country's No. 3 soy exporting port of
Rio Grande said on Sunday the port was receiving half the soy
and corn it usually does this time of year but had enough grain
stored in silos to continue exporting for a few more days.

Brazil's No. 2 soy exporting port of Paranagua has also
reported dwindling supplies at a time of year Brazil exports
much of the world's soybeans. A spokesman said on Friday the
port could only guarantee stocks to load ships through March 3.

The main grains exporting port of Santos has operated
normally for the past week, but protesters moved onto a major
highway in the city of Sao Paulo on Sunday in a sign they may
resume blockades in the state where the port is located.
(Reporting by Caroline Stauffer; Editing by Meredith Mazzilli)